Beach Crabs
by Musical Sunrise
Summary: Six-year-old Hikaru and Kaoru go to the beach searching for crabs. Due to request by JkawaiiNeko, now a oneshot series.
1. Beach

It was a hot, sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. A pair of six-year-olds ran across the beach, their bare feet digging into the hot sand.

"Kaoru, Kaoru, look!" One of them cried excitedly to his identical companion, his amber eyes alight with discovery.

"It's a crab! A crab!" The other boy giggled. "Let's put it in the bucket! Pass it here, Hikaru!"

The bucket was passed, and the crab was very carefully picked up by Hikaru, his small fingers well away from its pincers. They watched the crab scuttle around the bottom of the bucket.

"It looks kinda lonely, don't you think?" Kaoru said, looking mournfully at their lone crab.

"You're right. We need to find it some friends." His brother decided.

"Where do crabs live?" Kaoru wanted to know.

Hikaru frowned thoughtfully, scanning the beach for any other crabs. There were none in sight.

"I don't know." He answered his disappointed brother. Then he was hit by a sudden idea. "Hey! Maybe Oneechan knows!"

Both boys scrambled up and raced over to their current nanny. She was pretty new, and had only been their nanny for about a week or so. She was hired after the previous nanny had an unfortunate mishap with a tub of blueberry syrup, courtesy of the twins.

"Oneechan!" The two boys hollered as they raced up to her.

"Yes?" She replied nervously. She had heard plenty of stories about what these two troublemakers had done to previous nannies, so she was very wary of them. But she needed a job, so she'd had no choice but to take this one. It seemed the boys' parents had been desperate for a nanny. That wasn't a good sign, but so far they hadn't done anything to her. She should've been relieved, but this only added to her anxiety. She knew they were going to do something horrible to her, and worrying about when it would happen was driving her crazy.

"Where do crabs live?" One of them asked her. She had no idea which one he was. The two of them looked and acted so alike that telling them apart was virtually impossible.

Relieved that it was only an innocent question, she said "Well, crabs like to hide under rocks."

The two children looked puzzled by this.

"Rocks? Why would they want to hide under rocks?" One of them asked her. They gazed up at her with innocent, expectant faces.

"So they can hide from predators and stay out of the sun." She replied. "Why? Are you looking for crabs?"

"Yes! We've already got one, see?" They exclaimed, holding up the bucket for her inspection.

"Wow! Good job!" She praised. "Let's see how many you can find."

"Okay!" They trotted off to a patch of rocks, their red bucket bumping against their heels. The nanny felt sorry for the poor crab bouncing around in the bucket.

The twins started picking up some of the smaller rocks. There were no crabs underneath them, much to their disappointment.

"Was Oneechan lying to us?" Hikaru asked in dismay. He looked back across the beach at their nanny, who was reading a book under the beach umbrella.

"I don't know. I guess so." Kaoru said, heaving a sigh of disappointment. He really wanted to catch more crabs. He shifted his feet and a slightly larger rock tumbled away. Kaoru gasped with joy.

"Look, Hikaru! A crab!" He pointed to the crab that was hurriedly scuttling out of the hole to find another hiding spot. "Get it!"

Hikaru scrambled after the crab. In his rush to grab it, he forgot to be wary of its pincers. "Ouch!" He yelped, dropping it. The crab scuttled under another stone and disappeared.

"Are you okay, Hikaru?" Kaoru asked in concern.

"I'm okay. It was only a little one." Hikaru said as he inspected his injured finger. "But now we know Oneechan was right! Let's look for more crabs!"

Kaoru agreed, and the boys continued their search.

* * *

A while later, they had a lot of crabs in their bucket, and they were bored of looking for more.

"What should we do now?" Kaoru asked his brother. Hikaru always had the best ideas.

Hikaru frowned thoughtfully. Then his face took on a sly, slightly evil smile. "Well y'know, it would be a shame to let all our crab-hunting go to waste." He said slowly.

Kaoru's face took on a look identical to his brothers. Anyone who saw them would have thought they looked very sinister at that moment, and would have quickly fled the area.

"Yes, but what should we do with them?" He asked, knowing exactly where his twin was going with this.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You know I am."

* * *

People on the road near the beach looked up in alarm as a woman screamed, frantically trying to shake the crabs from her clothes.

The twins never did see that nanny again after that.


	2. Foolish

After the incident with the crabs, a new nanny had to be hired. The search for a new nanny was difficult, due to the boys' habit of tormenting them, but finally, one was found. This particular woman was a seasoned nanny, not 'young and foolish' as she felt the other nannies must have been, to fall for such 'harmless childish pranks'. Needless to say, she was not impressed by the young masters Hitachiin, and came prepared for battle.

Ignoring the pitying looks of the Hitachiin servants she passed on her way through the maze of halls to the room a helpful maid had said the rumored terrors were currently playing in.

Upon entering the room, she found two identical, auburn-haired boys dressed in stylish, expensive clothing. These were undoubtedly her new charges. At present, the boys were playing with a set of polished wooden blocks. Both looked up as she entered the room, their expressionless faces as unnerving as they were identical.

"Hello, boys." She said formally, her no-nonsense manner making it clear she would accept no shenanigans. "I am Mrs. Yukishiro, and you shall address me as such. You must be Hikaru and Kaoru, of course." Her sharp gray eyes swiftly assessed the mess of toys scattered about the room, making it so the floor was hardly visible. She sniffed with disapproval. "I expect you'll be cleaning up the mess you've made of this room, yes?" But her tone made it clear that it was not a question.

The twins surveyed her quietly for a moment. Then they obliged, much to her satisfaction.

'There!' She thought, pleased. 'Nothing to it! Just got to show them who's boss, that's all! All those other nannies were too soft. It takes a firm hand with children.'

One of the twins approached her as the other finished putting away the toys. It aggravated her to no end that she couldn't tell them apart. It made her feel as though they had an advantage over her, and she hated that. But identical or not, a pair of children were not going to get the better of her!

"What is it, boy?" She demanded of the twin standing quietly and innocently in front of her, his expression unreadable. "Speak up!"

"Mrs. Yukishiro, could we please have a snack?" He asked politely.

"Why, certainly." She said, pleased that she'd whipped them into shape so fast. "I shall be back shortly." And she turned and left the room, never thinking that it was the worst possible thing she could do.

As she returned from the kitchen, bearing a tray of veggies and dip –children must eat _healthy_ food- along with glasses of milk, she contemplated her success with the twins, a smug smile on her face.

When she reached the room, she found the door closed, but unlatched, with the light off. Puzzled, she frowned, but was not worried.

"Children." She muttered under her breath, shaking her head at their folly.

She kicked the door open gently and stepped inside. There was absolute stillness in the dark room, and the only things she could make out were darker shadows in the black.

"Boys?" She called into the silent room, taking another few cautious steps forward. "What are you up to?" She asked in her most disapproving tone, hoping they would stop whatever mischief they were up to. She didn't notice the soft click as the door shut quietly behind her, too absorbed was she in peering into the shadows. She didn't notice the tripwire until it was too late. Woman and tray crashed to the ground, veggies and milk flying in all directions.

Unfortunately, she thought she'd merely been clumsy and stumbled over a toy, and she wasn't alarmed into exiting the room. If she had, what happened next might have been prevented.

As she was getting to her feet, the lights suddenly came on. Blinking rapidly to dispel the spots from her vision at the sudden brightness, she failed to notice suspicious nozzles places around the room. Failed to notice them, that is, until they let loose with a colorful spray of paints that blasted her, painting her lovely shades of blue, green, red, yellow, orange, and pink.

She found it not so lovely.

A bloodcurdling scream that would have damaged the eardrums of anyone within earshot tore from her throat, and she tried helplessly to shield her face from the colorful onslaught of pigment.

She backed up, and slipped on a mixture of milk and purple paint. Down she went, pulling down with her what she thought was a curtain.

It wasn't a curtain.

With a loud rip, the bag burst in an explosion of white feathers, which covered everything and clogged the air. They particularly liked sticking to the paint-soaked Mrs. Yukishiro.

She screamed again, and choked on a mouthful of feathers. As she hacked, one of her stumbling feet landed on an ill-placed skateboard. Away she went, bursting through the door, opened by a pair of alarmed maids, and careening down the hall, leaving a trail of paint and feathers in her wake.

Hikaru and Kaoru's laughter chased her down the halls. The two terrors high-fived each other, and praised themselves on a job well done.


	3. Paranoia

An elaborate dining room, vast and empty, save for a large polished oak table that cut across the center of the room. The table was also bare, save for two identical young boys sitting at one end of it, looking much smaller than they actually were due to the vast size of the table. Their heads were bent over a book that sat open on the table in front of them, the same way they'd been the last fifty times she'd gone to check on them.

She was, of course, their newest nanny. Not on the job even an hour, and she was already wary of her young charges. So what if they were only five? They were quite dangerous, these infamous brats. The whole world of nannies had heard of them by now, the Hitachiin family's twin terrors, Hikaru and Kaoru. They were so identical that it was like looking at someone standing next to a mirror, and impossible to tell apart. They saw fit to 'punish' those who got them mixed up. Though why they didn't just make themselves look different from one another, she didn't know.

She peeked into the room again. Good, they were still there, same as before. Oh! A movement! She felt her heart clutch and her body tense up. Was this it? Was it all over? No, they were only tuning a page. Release the breath, muscles relax.

Paranoia. Any nanny who worked for the Hitachiin family for any length of time became prone to it. These horrendous children had managed to put her through hell in only an hour. A remarkable feat for such small boys, but they'd managed it. Such creative children they were. She had to watch out. They were sneaky. Very sneaky. And clever. Yes yes, very clever.

So she'd gone a little mental. Okay, so they hadn't done any too horrible yet. Not yet. But it would happen. Oh yes, it would most definitely happen. There was no avoiding this fate. They'd dumped crabs on one of her predecessors, the poor girl. She'd been so young. She'd quit being a nanny and decided to become a secretary instead. Never wanted to see another child again, she said. The poor thing.

_At least they weren't spiders_. The woman thought to herself. That was true. Spiders were dreadful, creepy little things, with their multiple, strange looking legs and overall creepiness. Much worse than crabs. But then again, crabs could pinch. Oh, but spiders bite, and leave terrible itching red marks. So spiders were still worse.

Wait, how long was it since she'd last checked on the boys? The anxiety builds up again. Hasty feet move down the hall. Desperate eyes search the room. They land on the abandoned book.

_Oh no_.

They're gone they're gone they're gone. What should she do? Check the room thoroughly. They may be underneath the table. No, they're not there. Behind the curtains? No no, not their either. Did she look behind the door? No, she hadn't yet. Were they there? No. Behind the large vase? No no, not their either. _Inside _the large vase? A ridiculous hiding spot. Check anyway. No, they aren't there.

Where could they be? They couldn't have left the room without her realizing. She'd been keeping a tight watch on the door, a very tight watch. Could they have snuck by her? No, there was no way that could have happened. And that was the only door to the room. Could they have gone out the window? Unlikely, since this was the third floor. Though maybe a gardener had left a ladder or something there? That was possible. She'd have to check that too. A quick survey of the world outside the window. No no, no children there. No ladders, either. So they didn't go out the window. What was the next prospect?

She willed her frenzied and panicked brain to think. Think think think. Where would two troublemaking boys go? Perhaps it was possible that they'd snuck by her after all? No no, but she'd been watching so closely. Perhaps she should do another check of the room? Look behind the curtains-

"Hey."

Spin around. Two faces domineering at hip-level. Such evil looks. The heart clenches with fear. What was with that look? What were they up to? Oh no. No no no. Not that. Anything but that.

"**KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"**

"…**.I guess she didn't like spiders after all."**


	4. Ginger's First Day

The twins were happily amusing themselves while their mother supervised the delivery of some new materials for her fashion designs. At the moment they were playing with ants that crawled out from between the flagstones. They wouldn't have much longer to play with them, since their mother had discovered the colony and had called in an exterminator to get rid of it. She didn't need a huge ant colony so close to her house, and she wasn't too fond of ants anyways.

Their newest nanny was sitting on the steps up to the door, her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She was watching them while feeling rather bored. Her name was Ginger, and she was only to be here for three days while the twins' parents searched for someone to replace the old nanny. So really, she was more of a babysitter. Unfortunately for her, she really didn't like children, and she happened to get stuck with these little monsters. She hadn't heard about what happened to the previous nanny, but she could guess from every horror story she'd ever heard, both about these kids and others.

Right now, rather than contemplating her fate, she was thinking about what she would have for dinner that night. She'd had sukiyaki the night before, so what did she want to eat tonight? Katsudon sounded yummy. Maybe she'd have that. She lived at her own house rather than staying at the Hitachiin mansion, so she was still responsible for her own meals.

Hikaru and Kaoru quickly grew bored of the ants, and went over to see what was being unloaded. There were fabrics of all sorts of different patterns, textures, and colours, boxes, and several other items wrapped in something strange. Their eyes quickly locked on this oddity, and they watched with curiosity as these items were carried past.

"Mom," They said in their typical unison, tugging on their mother's skirt. "Mom, what's that?" And pointed.

"Hm? What's what?" She asked, smiling at her beloved children and bending down.

"That. What those are wrapped in." They said, again in unison, and again pointing at the object of their curiosity.

"Oh, that?" Yuzuha asked, finally understanding. "That's bubble wrap."

"Bubble wrap?"

"Yes. Bubble wrap."

"What's it do?"

"Well, bubble wrap is a kind of thin, flexible, plastic sheet, covered in air bubbles. You wrap breakable things in it, and the bubbles act as padding to keep those things from being broken." She explained, amused by their newfound fascination. Her twins really were the cutest children in the world! Even if they did get themselves in trouble a lot of them time, that was because she and her husband were so rarely home, and they got bored and lonely. They didn't like having all these new strangers come in and look after them, so tormenting them was how they got their amusement. She felt sorry for the poor girls, but her boys had never seriously hurt anyone, and any mental problems resulting from their harassment were nothing that some good therapy wouldn't cure, right?

"Oh." The twins said. That explanation was boring. The bubble wrap looked interesting though. "Can we have some to play with?" They asked, looking at the workers who were still carrying and organizing all the things their mother had ordered.

Yuzuha, being the type of mother who loved to spoil her children whenever she was home, quickly obliged. Within thirty minutes, the boys had a rather large supply of bubble wrap to do whatever they desired with, so long as they didn't bother their mother or interfere with the workers, who had moved inside to organize the packages into their respective places in Yuzuha's studio.

So, like typical children, they sat and popped the bubbles for a while. After they got bored of that, they lay a sheet out on the floor and jumped on it, and rolled on it, etc. The popping bubbles were amusing, but quickly lost their interest.. And they still had a huge supply of bubble wrap to go through.

"What should we do with it?" Kaoru asked Hikaru, who was still the mastermind behind nearly all of their plots.

"I don't know yet. Give me a minute to think." Hikaru replied, staring thoughtfully at their stash of bubble wrap. Kaoru waited patiently, watching his brother's face. He didn't mind waiting for Hikaru. Hikaru was well worth it. He wouldn't exhibit the same level of patience to anyone else though. They weren't worth it. Such was order of importance in Kaoru's mind.

"Well…" Hikaru said, catching Kaoru's attention, which had wandered to an ant the was wandering around near his shoe. "I suppose we could use it to decorate our room."

"Oh!" Kaoru said. "That sounds like fun! Then our room will go 'pop' every time we take a step!"

"Yeah. Now, we'd better get it up there. Gather it into a pile, and then you take that end, and I'll take this end."

"Okay."

And the boys happily set their plan in motion, still being more or less ignored by Ginger, who was supposed to be watching them. She was now contemplating whether or not she should paint her apartment, as she detested yellow, which was the colour it currently was. She should paint it a better colour. Maybe blue. Or green. Those were good colours.

But anyway, after much struggling, and several trips, the boys managed to get all the bubble wrap upstairs to their room. While Hikaru began to set up the bubble wrap for their decorating adventure, Kaoru want on a quest for scissors and tape, both of which would be necessary for their goal. Especially tape. They'd need loads of it if they wanted to accomplish anything impressive. After a brief interval of running around the mansion, he'd managed to acquire sever rolls of duct tape, painter's tape, masking tape, scotch tape, and several other types of tape, and returned to Hikaru. Hikaru promptly sent him out again since he'd forgotten to get the scissors. Those didn't take him long to find, in short order they were happily setting up their masterpiece.

Ginger was still outside, completely oblivious to the fact that her charges had gone inside. She probably should be fired for this, as nannies are supposed to watch the children they are paid to watch, and not completely ignore them as she is doing.

It took them two full hours of blissful unsupervision to complete their masterwork, and they spent another good hour and a half playing in it before slow little Ginger finally clued in that her charges were missing. It took her another hour to find them. Not that she actually found them, as they'd left to get a snack. But she found what they'd been doing, and was left to gape in unrestrained wonder at what they'd created.

There was bubble wrap _everywhere_. Ev. Ry. Where. Covering the floor, hiding the beds, adorning the walls. Heck, it was even on the ceiling! How they managed to get it up there, she would never figure out.

Completely baffled, she took a step into the room. What in the world had they been up to? Was this something she should scold them for, or was this deemed as perfectly acceptable behaviour, like things such as blanket forts were? Was this covered in any particular handbook?

After a moment, she deemed that, although completely bewildering, since they hadn't actually caused any harm to anything, this was probably okay, so long as they cleaned it up. Since they were two spoiled princes of a rich family, it was unlikely that they would do the cleaning. The job would most likely land on her, in a few hours when it would be bedtime. Still, she had to admire their concentration. This must have taken them quite a while to accomplish. She didn't even stop to think about how _she_ was supposed to be monitoring them, and how they had managed to make something like this when she wasn't. She didn't clue in about what other things they could possibly do while she left them unsupervised. And that, inevitably, would lead to her downfall.


	5. Ginger's Second Day

**Hey, sorry that I took so long to update this. I know there are at least a few of you who really like it and eagerly await chapters, and I thank you for that. It makes me feel special. Anyway, here's the latest chapter of my story, "Beach Crabs." Just what kind of trouble will they get in this time?**

**

* * *

**

It was the morning of her second day, and although she was sitting at the long oak dining room table with her charges, Ginger wasn't fully awake yet, and probably wouldn't be for another hour. The breakfast that had been placed in front of her looked delicious, and tasted about ten times better. Since she'd wound up having to stay overnight in order to clean up the bubble wrap in the twins' room, they had provided her with breakfast in order to spare her the trouble of going all the way home just to eat, before coming right back.

Taking a bite of her scrambled eggs, Ginger had to bite back a moan of pleasure, but only because she didn't want the boys she was looking after to think that she was some kind of weirdo. The fork still in her mouth, she eyed her meal, well aware that it probably cost more than her entire paycheck. She'd better savour it, since it wasn't likely that they'd feed her like this again. So she took slow, tiny bites, chewing each one as long as possible before swallowing it. Oh, it was so good! It was like she'd died and gone to heaven or something!

Meanwhile, Hikaru and Kaoru had already finished their breakfast, and were sitting in their spots, impatiently waiting for their air-headed nanny to finish. Geez, how long could it take one woman to eat a plate of food? She was taking forever! If there was some kind of world record for the longest time taken to eat a plate of food, Ginger seemed to be going for it. And nothing is more boring than watching someone chew.

Normally, they would have just run off by now, but they wanted to play cowboys with Ginger. So they waited. For another five minutes. Then they got bored, decided it wasn't worth it, and slid out of their seats and onto the floor. Sliding across the marble floors commando-style, they slithered all the way out the door.

Ginger wasn't even a third of they way finished her meal.

Once they were outside the door to the dining room, they gave each other a look, still on their stomachs. Coming to a silent agreement, they continued to crawl commando-style down the hallway, much to the amusement of the servants who passed by.

"Good morning, Young Masters." They said cheerfully to the boys as they went about their daily business.

"Good morning" was their mumbled reply. Normally they wouldn't have bothered to respond, as they didn't like anyone other than themselves. But when someone greeted you with such a happy, carefree expression, you'd feel like the biggest jerk in the world if you simply ignored them. So Hikaru and Kaoru found themselves returning greetings, even as they switched to log-rolling down the hall. When they reached the stairs, they found that they had no choice but to stand up and walk down them normally, which disappointed them. They were having fun rolling, but rolling right down the stairs would be dangerous, not to mention painful.

Hikaru had only taken one step down the stairs when he had a brilliant idea, stopping short. Kaoru, who was a few steps ahead, paused and looked back at his brother curiously, wondering what was the cause for the abrupt halt.

"Let's slide down the railing." Hikaru announced, turning back and climbing up the one stair he'd actually stepped down. A grin broke across Kaoru's face, and he was quick to follow his twin back up to the landing at the top of the stairs.

Reaching up high above his head, Hikaru found that he could just barely grasp the edge of the railing. Pulling himself up with just that fragile hold proved to be impossible, even with Kaoru giving him a boost up. Disappointed and discouraged, the boys sat down on the top step, in identical positions with their chins in their hands while they thought.

"I guess we'll have to wait 'til we're taller." Kaoru said finally, tilting his head slightly so that he could see his brother's face. As expected, Hikaru looked frustrated. It was frustrating when their plans didn't go the way they wanted them to. Sliding down the railing really had been a good, fun idea, but they just weren't big enough to pull it off yet. When they were bigger, they could slide down the rail all they wanted. They'd just have to wait until then.

Unfortunately, neither of the Hitachiin twins possessed so much as a shred of patience.

After a few moments of silence passed, Kaoru realized that his brother wasn't going to answer. Sighing, he turned back to stare down the stairs. Clearly Hikaru was much more disappointed than he'd originally thought, or he wouldn't be sulking so much. Upset with this, Kaoru began to think. Was there a way to make them taller? They just needed a few more inches, then they'd be able to make it up.

"…Maybe if we used a chair?" Kaoru said slowly, toying with this idea. "Or a laundry basket? Chairs are heavy."

Though Kaoru didn't see it, Hikaru's face brightened immediately. "That's perfect!" He exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and earning himself a startled look from his brother. "If we stand on one of those, we'll definitely be able to do it! Great thinking, Kaoru!"

Pleased by the praise, Kaoru smiled. "Okay, let's go get one then." He agreed, standing up and racing after Hikaru as he shot down the hall

* * *

Oh, this sausage was heavenly! It tasted like chicken. Was it chicken sausage? If so, it was the best chicken sausage that Ginger had ever eaten. The meat was tender and juicy, its flavour blending well with the spices. And it was cooked exactly to perfection.

Ginger took another tiny, delicious bite, making sounds of pleasure as she bit into it and the flavourful juices filled her mouth. If someone killed her right now, she'd die happy.

A few feet to her right sat two empty chairs, abandoned plates on the table in front of them. A maid came into the room, looking over and frowning when she saw the nanny, but not the children.

"Ginger-san," she began politely, but was completely ignored by the other woman, who was disturbingly intent on her food, which had to be cold by now. "Ginger-san," she tried again, this time getting an irritated look for her trouble. The maid continued on, undeterred, "Where are the young masters?" She asked, a well-hidden but sharp edge of criticism in her voice.

Startled, Ginger turned to her right. No boys. Turning to her left, she checked again. No boys. Ducking to the side, she checked underneath the table. Still nothing. Uh-oh. Now she was in trouble, and the maid knew it. If anything happened to those boys while she was supposed to be watching them, her head would be rolling across the polished marble floors as soon as Yuzuha Hitachiin got a hold of her.

"Uh…" She began, stalling for time as her worried eyes met the unyielding, unimpressed gaze of the maid. "We're playing hide and seek." She blurted out the words as they came to her mind, not really thinking about what she was saying. "They, uh, haven't found me yet."

"I see." The maid said, not buying it for a minute. However, it wasn't her problem to deal with, so she quietly gathered up the empty plates, already preparing a report for her employers on what she thought of the newest nanny.

After watching the maid go and making sure she was gone, Ginger quickly scarfed down the rest of her food with a twinge of regret. While she'd rather stay here and really savour it, she'd catch hell if she didn't do her job. When her plate was empty, she abandoned it, quickly striding out the dining room doors in search of the twins.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru had failed to find the laundry room, and every chair they'd found so far had been much to heavy for them to lift. For a while, they'd been discouraged again, fearing that their goal might not be accomplished. However, after turning yet another corner in the maze that was the Hitachiin family mansion, they'd made an amazing discovery!

It was a futon, light and airy, clearly having just finished being laundered. Delighted by this stroke of luck, the boys grabbed the heavy futon and labouriously dragged it back to the stairwell. Even though they'd taken it, they still hadn't had a clear idea of what they were going to do with it. At least, they didn't until they actually spotted the stairs.

Staring down the stairs, the idea hit them both at same time, causing them to grin at each other knowingly. Dragging the futon until it was hanging precariously off of the edge of the landing, they climbed on and gave one hard pushed, their small hands grabbed on and holding on for their lives.

* * *

A young maid who was making beds and cleaning rooms went out into the hallways to retrieve a futon that she'd left there. Only it wasn't where she'd left it. Puzzled, she wandered up and down the hallway in search of it. Had someone moved it on her?

She rounded the corner just in time to see the young sons of her employers slide off the landing and down the stairs on the missing futon.

"Young Masters!" She screamed in horror, racing down to see if they were all right.

* * *

Elsewhere in the house, Ginger was still searching for her wayward charges when she heard the scream. She, along with everyone else within hearing distance, raced in the direction of the sound. Ginger was, of course, the last to arrive. Being new, she wasn't as familiar with the mansion as the others were. Arriving last made her look much worse than she already did for not keeping an eye on Hikaru and Kaoru.

A young-looking maid was at the bottom of the stairs, sobbing out her story to the head butler while three other servants checked over Hikaru and Kaoru for any signs of possible injuries. All eyes turned to lock on Ginger upon her arrival, and she froze, immediately recognizing the trouble she was in. The head butler left the maid to be consoled by the other servants, and leveled his gaze on Ginger.

"I'm calling the Mistress." Was the only thing he said.


End file.
